Salt Spring Elementary School (SSES) was buzzing with the results of scientific inquiry on the morning of Wednesday, March 12 as the school hosted the second annual grades 6-7 science fair.
More than 140 students in eight classes from SSES, Fulford and Fernwood elementary schools came together for the event that filled the school’s gymnasium.
Report topics ranged from weather phenomena to earthquakes, from botanical mysteries to answering questions about how airplanes fly and how reticulated pythons can consume such large prey. Students explained their projects and the experiments undertaken to judges, their peers, and visiting family and community members.
Local scientists and retired teachers filled the important role of judges, interviewing each student, explained Fulford teacher Kate Richer, who instigated the fair idea last year.
“They were highly impressed with the original ideas, ability to communicate and scientific knowledge of the students,” she said.
Biologist/ecologist Susan Hannon was one of the judges.
“It was fun and interesting to be a judge at the science fair — the energy was palpable,” she said. “The children were enthusiastic and eager to explain their projects, and I learned a lot too!”
Retired science teacher David Astill also enjoyed the opportunity to engage with young people.
“I was really impressed by their ability to communicate in a clear, meaningful way regarding their subject matter,” he said, adding, “This is just the type of activity that promotes real thinking. In a time when science is often questioned by the public, these students showed a deep understanding of the process of science. I hope these students continue to ask questions and apply some of the skills they have learned in a time when they are exposed to so much disinformation.”
Retired teacher Deborah Miller also enjoyed participating for the second year.
“l love doing it partly because I like to think that kids are getting a chance to do some critical thinking about the processes involved in scientific facts versus personal beliefs, and partly because it is fun to speak to students who are passionate about the discoveries they have made themselves, following a particular procedure, collecting data and making conclusions.
“Many students are just learning these processes so they may have some trouble adjusting their thinking and expectations. Some easily follow the pattern of thought and work required and get excited about what they are doing.”
Miller pointed to Aurelia Lukow’s project about hummingbirds as an example of “one of many great projects.”
“The student was interested to find out if hummingbirds truly choose red nectar over other colours,” said Miller. “Interestingly her results showed a preference for blue nectar.
“Another project tested a variety of kinds of potato chips for their caloric content by burning the chips and measuring the temperature and duration of burning period. They repeated the experiment several times and averaged the results.”